The Legend of Zelda: Chronicle of Shadows
by The Bone Snatcher
Summary: 3 years after Midna's departure another shadow looms over Hyrule and with it came the lost Mukai and Makaan tribes. As the fate of Hyrule hangs in the balance our Hero must fight for more then just the Princess and her kingdom, he'll fight for his life..
1. Prologue

_I think this is the best I've written in a long while ^^ Ahh it feels good to get this story under way after so much thought._

_Anyways I don't quite know where abouts in the Zelda timeline this will fit so for now just think of it as a new installment . I was thinking perhaps though that I might make this somewhere after Twilight Princess O.O Just to give you an idea of what Link we're dealing with here lol_

_As for the premise? =w= Well, you know how it goes for most Zelda installments, Princess is in trouble, Ganondorf is a major villain, Link saves the day yada yada BUT! I wanted to put more of an emphasis on the Sheikah since so little is known about them. So, I came up with my own idea of what could have happened hence my Sheikah branch-off the Mukai and their lupine steeds the Makaan -loosly played off the Makah because the wolves were native to Hyrule in the beginning-_

_All oc's/original characters are copyright to me. Everything belongs to the original creators of the Zelda series._

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Long ago in the age of the goddesses, the land of Hyrule was far vaster then what one knows it to be today. Back then the races were at their greatest; Hyrule was full of life and hope. But there was one tribe that felt at odds with itself.

The Sheikah, known to most everyone by this time as the Shadow Folk, were far greater in number before their own tribal war began. A war that most Hylian legends fail to speak of, for the Sheikah never left a trace of it behind before the Hyrulean Civil War began.

This war was known to them as the War of Shadows, or the War of Beasts. To better understand this war one must go back to when the tribe was split in half by two opposing Sheikah men.

The first vowed to serve the Hylian Royal Family as their shadows and protectors. Many rose up behind this brave Sheikah and they to vowed to serve the Royal Family thus bringing about an alliance between the two.

The other Sheikah man however was far from the idea of serving the Royal Family. This man was more interested in a long thought extinct race of ancient Hylian wolves known as the Makaan. He fought long and hard with the leader of the Makaan always claiming he would make their alpha submit to the Sheikah tribe forming an alliance between man and beast. His first five attempts failed, but with the aid of his power, stealth and cunning the proud Sheikah warrior finally assumed his dominance over the alpha of the Makaan thus bringing about the beginning of the War of Shadows.

This act of befriending and allying with the Makaan did not sit well with the Sheikah that vowed to serve the Royal Family. In turn they cast out the warriors that had allied themselves with the large beasts forcing them into the Lost Woods. For a time these Sheikah remained there until such a time when they were ready to start the battle again.

By the time the second half of the War of Shadows begin these forest dwelling Sheikah had learned the ability to take on a smaller form of their Makaan counterparts thus bringing the name War of Beasts to the War of Shadows. Due to the Makaans' large size most of the Royal Servants were killed during battle and thusly would have fallen to the mighty lupine threat if not for the leader of the Royal Servants putting an end to it all. With one swift movement he slit the throat of the forest dwelling Sheikah leader ceasing the bloodshed once and for all.

Upon seeing this the Makaan came to the decision to leave their native land behind, taking with them the remaining half of the banished Sheikah tribe. To better suit their needs the mighty lupine beasts joined together and severed the section of Hyrule the war had taken place on, forcing it further south to live in peace far away from the laws of Hyrule. Years after their lands separation from Hyrule the Makaan began to grow into mammoth sizes some standing at least ten hands taller than a Clydesdale at the shoulders.

With their lupine counterparts now large enough to be ridden these banished Sheikah became known as Wolf Bearers, Wolf Riders and in some cases they were even called the Mukai, a name given to these wolven Sheikah by the Makaan themselves. To the lupine creatures it meant "Little Wolf" in their tongue though only a few chosen Mukai could understand the mighty Makaan.

Centuries after the war of the Sheikah the land of the Makaan and Mukai was eventually taken under by a fierce earthquake, sinking the island into the sea. The remaining Makaan and Mukai reluctantly fled back to the land of Hyrule to live as myths among the shadows and scattered their numbers across the land. Some stayed to dwell in the Lost Woods their ancestors had been banished to centuries earlier, some left to live among the demons in the desert of the Gerudo's and others simply hid in the shadows everywhere and anywhere they could in Hyrule.

Among those hiding in the shadows of Hyrule were the Prince and Princess of the Mukai, Kaji and his younger sister Daznik. Their Makaan were just pups at the time of the Great Quake so their rescue was mandatory according to the higher officers of their tribe and thusly insured they were onboard the boat, some even giving their lives to save the young royals.

For years to two hid from the inhabitants of Hyrule watching the world run its course until their Makaan were large enough to bare their weight. It was then they took to roaming the land in search of the scattered Mukai tribe whilst learning as much as they could about their new land but in doing so, the royals' personalities began to change.

Daznik's personality became a bit more benevolent but she seemed strange to some of the other Mukai when she began "Stalking" a young Hylian boy as she so boldly put it. The young Princess became increasingly obsessed with watching him day in and day out. The young Hylian's name was Link and, even though she got close enough for him to notice her in her wolven form. Daznik never let him get close enough to touch her. She would bark and run off onto a high rock leaving Link standing there shaking his head at this crazy animal he believed to be no more than a mere wolf.

Kaji however was becoming the polar opposite to his adventurous sister. He was slowly becoming more jaded by his findings since he discovered what had happened to their ancestor during the War of Beasts and he vowed to get his vengeance on the Hylian Royal Family for allowing their Royal Shadows to commit such an act. Upon learning of the Royal Families descendant Princess Zelda, Kaji became obsessed with the idea of ending her existence in front of the whole of Hyrule showing them that this side of the former Sheikah race was far more superior then what they had faced centuries earlier in the war. Soon after his decision to take Hyrule Kaji was informed of Daznik's recent behaviour with the Hylian Link and in a rage he set out to find her and the Hylian boy to put an end to the ordeal and take over the entirety of the Mukai to rise against Princess Zelda.

Fortunately for Daznik, Kaji was distracted on his travels by a document containing information about a dark being forcing all thoughts of his sister out of the Princes' mind. Instead Kaji set a course for a realm in which to bring back this mighty man who shared his hatred for the Hylian Princess and vowed to return to take care of Daznik when he'd found him. The Mukai Princess however cared not for her brothers ideals at this point and persisted on stalking the boy she seemed to enjoy pestering so much, much to Link's dismay sometimes as she now took to tripping him when he would get to close to a Mukai soldier laying in wait in the shadows by Kaji's order. That is, until Daznik learned of the being in which Kaji intended on bringing to Hyrule in order to end the reign of Zelda.

The being in which Kaji had referred to before taking his leave in search of him, was none other than Ganondorf. The dark bearer of the Triforce of Power who had in times past attempted to overthrow Zelda and her family only to fall at the hands of Link's own ancestors.

Now the Mukai Princess was worried about the fate of not only the Hylians, but her own tribe as well. Realizing that the Hylian boy she had taken to stalking was a descendant of the Hero of Time she began to test him, sizing up his power and skill to see if he was ever truly going to be ready to face two of his greatest foes in years he knew nothing about.

This is how the chronicle of shadows began...


	2. The Chronicle of Shadows

_Alright so, here is the first real chapter of The Legend of Zelda: Chronicle of Shadows. I've decided that this is going to take place about 3 - 4 years after the events of Twilight Princess so you have at least some inkling as to what time frame and version of Link you're picturing -laughs-_

_Oh, and just to clear this up O.O I realized I may not have made this clear in the introduction to this fic but the two enemies Link knows nothing about I referred to inlcuded my OCs Kaji and Paydin as well as another I'm not going to name for fear of ruining the story =w= I was NOT however referring to Ganondorf as I now realize it could have come off -laughs again-_

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The day started off as it would any other. Link had taken Epona out for her daily run to exercise her but upon his return Ilia had noticed a scratch on Epona's front leg sparking her to yell at him angrily and storm off with his horse again.

"You have to stop pushing Epona so hard Link!" She lectured before leading the horse to water to clean her up. Link sighed, scratching his head before trotting after the steaming girl. It's not like he was pushing her on purpose, he loved that horse more than anything but Ilia noticed everything where Epona was concerned. He quickly made his way to the spring where Ilia was washing Epona's cut and stood there waiting for her to cool down before approaching.

"Are you going to take it easier on her now?" Ilia questioned as Link strode up behind her. Silently Link nodded and reached for the reigns of Epona's bridle. "Hang on!" The hero cringed when Ilia raised her voice again. He carefully peeked at her with one eye making sure she wasn't about to deck him before looking at her entirely to see what she had to say. "You have to take more care when hoping fences with her Link. You could hurt her and yourself you know."

Again Link nodded saying to Ilia he understood, but she still didn't want him to run off with Epona just to make the cut worse. So, she tried to grab the reigns to lead the horse back herself but Epona whinnied and shook her head with a snort making the girl back up. "Even now you still prefer your master over me huh Epona... OK Link, you can take her back now I guess... But before you go, can you play that song for me? Please?" Link smiled at the girl before grabbing his horse call and using it to play Epona's song for her. At least it would keep Ilia happy for a while, and it brought his horse over to him as well since this was the song he used to call her to him.

"Thank you Link..." With his job done, Link hopped on his horse and headed back to the village. He was so sure that was all the excitement he'd get today and he hung his head a little tired from all his running around. It wasn't that he didn't like running these errands for people on top of what he needed to do himself, but it did get a little tiring. Silently Link stretched, reaching his hands high above his head with a content sigh, but his serenity was short lived when an all too familiar bark spooked Epona making her buck him off her back causing the hero land on his back with a harsh thud knocking the wind from his body.

Now on the ground Link slowly sat up to see what had spooked his horse only to have his eyes fall upon the same black and white wolf that seemed to have a habit of stalking him. He sighed and shook his head looking at it not quite sure why it was so interested in harassing him like this. It had been doing this for years now, even before he had gone to save Hyrule from the twilight but he was seventeen then. He was sure that by now the wolf would have gotten bored with a twenty year old farm boy but nope. This wolf just wouldn't leave him be.

Tired of being tripped, barked at and bucked off his horse the hero dusted himself off and got up. This time Link wasn't about to let this pesky canine get away even if it took him all night and day to catch it. He'd leash this thing if it meant he could go for a leisurely walk after his errands without being knocked to the ground by his furred friend here. Besides, he'd had enough of wolves to last him a life time with his own body becoming one from the twilight realm.

Slowly Link approached the small black and white canine trying not to let on what his intentions were but he could tell by the twinkle in the wolfs eye that it knew what he was about to do.

"Hmm..." Link began to wonder if catching it was really worth the trouble now. Knowing there wasn't a way to do so without a rope and Epona, who had run off when she bucked him off, the hero casually walked towards the wolf and almost like clockwork the canine barked again and took off up onto the highest rock it could find. "Hehh..." He shook his head watching this wolf all the while thinking it was out of its tree before turning around and walking back to the village.

"Oh Link, there you are." Rusl said, relieved when Link came trudging back into the village. "I was worried for a moment, I saw Epona come charging into the village spooked by something but you were nowhere to be seen. What happened?" Link just shook his head with a sigh at Rusl's question and waved his hand in the air like he didn't want to talk about it as he padded over to his horse. Rusl only laughed at the hero. "Was it you're furry friend again?" Rusl laughed even harder when Link hid his face in Epona's saddle pretending he wasn't listening. "Well Link you can't hide from it forever. Seems it's gotten braver to." Link's head snapped up when Rusl finished his sentence. "See?" The older sword smith pointed to the canine sitting on the path Link had just been on.

"Ahhh..." Link huffed and waltzed over to the wolf but it just bowed down and barked before running out of Link's range. A little frustrated now Link shook his head again and started walking back to his horse to take her home, but the wolf wasn't about to let him off that easy and bolted after him. Rusl couldn't help but crack up even more when the wolf swept Links feet out from under him causing the hero to crash to the ground. Now Link was ready to call it a night. He looked at the black wolf out of the corner of his eyes as he rest his chin on his hand and tapped his fingers on the ground before sitting up and dusting himself off.

"That wolf REALLY likes you." Rusl commented half laughing as he helped Link up and walked him back home. "Try not to get too frustrated with it Link. It's just an animal looking to play." Link nodded and waved to Rusl as he walked back to his own home before tying Epona up and heading inside for the night. He'd about had enough of today and decided to skip dinner and go straight to bed tonight.

It felt like no more than a few hours had gone by when Link awoke to the sound of the familiar barking outside his house. He turned his head bleary eyed and looked to the sky trying to tell how early it was. "Huhh..." Sighing he got up and climbed the ladder to look out his window and sure enough, there was the wolf again sitting out front waging its tail the moment it saw him. Shaking his head he quietly clambered down the ladders and strolled out the front door to go through his usual routine with his furry little friend. This time however Link was shocked to find the wolf was gone by the time he got outside. "Hmm..." The hero scratched his head before turning around to head inside but when he turned around he came face to face with a woman standing behind him.

Clearly not awake yet Link panicked and stumbled backwards only to fall off his porch with a startled scream and onto the hard ground below. He sat up rubbing his head and looked up at the woman laughing at him from where he'd just fallen.

"You have a habit of falling an awful lot don't you?" She more mocked then asked, her black hair covering the right side of her face. She had a sienna head wrap and scarf wrapped around her neck covering the bottom half of her face leaving only her left crimson eye exposed. Beneath the scarf was a torn green tunic and she wore black and brown pants to match her black gloves. A brown belt indicating a weapon could be holstered wound its way around her waist and across her left shoulder in a similar fashion to Links. "What's the matter? Wolf got your tongue?" She continued to mock the silent hero.

Finally Link shook his head and stood up to get a better look at this woman. He gave her an intense look demanding that he wanted to know who she was and what she was doing here. Getting the message the woman jumped down and looked him in the eyes. "Relax Twilight Hero. I'm not your enemy here..." She waltzed towards him revealing the leather bound lock of hair with a similar feather tied to the end of it. Link recognized it but he couldn't think of where. "Like it?" The woman said twirling the feather around. "You've seen this before yea know. On a wolf perhaps?"

"Huh?" Link was a little shocked she knew of the wolf and was about to grab a weapon just in case he needed to defend himself but, then it hit him. This girl WAS the wolf. He shook his head in disbelief and looked her up and down trying to figure out how it was possible, she looked like a normal Hylian to him.

"Not quite convinced eh?" She chuckled. "No need to look so stupefied Link." Now Link was beyond baffled. How'd she know his name? And more importantly what was she doing here? He'd never seen her before in his life aside from the wolf she'd been hanging around as. Link turned his head with a cautious but curious look on his face trying to understand it all.

"..." The former wolf couldn't help but chuckle at Link's silence.

"Don't talk much eh... I can tell though, you want to know what this is all about." The wolf girl grinned under her scarf as Link nodded indicating she was right. He wanted to know and he wanted to know fast before anything else could happen. "Well Mr. Hero, my name is Daznik but, you can just call me Daz" Daznik winked at him before continuing making Link look to the side a little. "I'm a member of a lost tribe from the Sheikah people known as the Mukai. We were living on an island that was once part of Hyrule many centuries ago but a few years before your adventures in the twilight it sank do to an earthquake."

"...?" Link couldn't believe Daznik knew about his adventure in the Twilight Realm. Without saying anything he urged her to continue with her tale all too curious as to how she knew about it.

"Hm. I can tell you want to know how I know about that huh?" Daznik continued. Link nodded and Daznik continued with her story. "Well, I know because I've been keeping an eye on you... OK perhaps that's not the way to put it. I've been stalking you I guess." She snickered when Link rolled his eyes at the thought of her harassment. "It was purely out of interest at first, and I was about to leave you be. But I couldn't once I found out what my brother was planning..."

"...?" Link tilted his head even more curious now and again he silently urged Daznik to continue.

"Do you remember the princess of Hyrule Link? Princess Zelda?" Daznik waited until Link nodded in affirmation. "Well, she's in danger Mr. Hero." Daz finished with a serious look in her eyes. Link was stunned to hear this, he didn't believe it at first but when the look didn't fade from Daznik's eyes he knew it was true. "The princess is in danger but she's unaware of it, or my brother's intentions." The Hero of Twilight continued to listen intently as Daznik spoke of her tribes past, her and her brother's change in personality and finally his motives.

"Hmmm..." At first Link didn't know what to think of it all. He found it hard to believe that anyone could bring Ganondorf back after what he did to him with the Master Sword. But if what Daznik was saying was in fact true then he had a lot of work to do. He could already tell the Mukai girl was going to ask him for his help.

"So, onto the reasons for my stalking you... I was testing you, to see if you'd be ready to face my brother and his Makaan when I asked you to help me..." A pleading look ran through Daz's eyes as she looked him in the eye. "So, what d'you say hero? Will you help me and my tribe out?" Without hesitating Link nodded his head confirming that he would assist Daznik in her quest. "Great!" Daznik was overjoyed to hear this. "You have no idea how much this will mean to my people Link. Thank you..." With that said, Daznik told the hero to meet her in Hyrule field tomorrow by high noon so they could continue to the desert where a fraction of the Mukai people awaited Link and Daznik's arrival.

As the wolf girl ran off into the forest again Link stood there on his porch turning over the thoughts in his head trying to bring some sort of sense to it all before heading inside. If he really was to take up the Master Sword against Ganondorf again he'd need to rest up now and keep his strength up.

The details of what was expected of him would have to wait for now...


End file.
